We recently brought you the news that Dagger Froggy was being released in April. Since then, it’s great to get hands-on with new retro-style games, and Dagger Froggy has leapt onto our screens this week. The game is out now on Switch, of which we’ve previewed here, Xbox, and PlayStation, now priced at $4.99.
The game, published by retro publishers EastAsiaSoft and developed by Solluco, most certainly falls into the budget range of recent releases, considering there is only one mode to play and only a few options to get into once the game loads. The whole game is you against the clock, trying to survive against wave after wave of enemies. Dagger Froggy is all single screen as well, so it has a real retro feel, almost as if Vampire Saviour would feel if it were released 30 years ago.
In Dagger Froggy, players take control of a little frog hero on a mission to survive ten minutes of constant enemy onslaught. With each wave comes new challenges, and making it to the end of ten ten-minute runs, which allows you to claim your coin horde, is not a done deal. As each wave is defeated, an opportunity to upgrade one of the frog’s skills can be selected.
There is a large range of different tools, weapons and buffs to choose from, so no two runs feel the same. Also, depending on what upgrade options are presented, there will be choices ahead as to what tactics need to be used as the game gets harder.
If the entire ten-minute run is completed, the coins earned can be used to buy permanent upgrades and new characters from the frog shop. The permanent upgrades are exactly the same upgrades that are selected during the main game. Deciding on what parts of the frog to upgrade permanently will really depend on the kind of gameplay style and tactics that are desired. During our playthrough, we started to lean towards improving the health bar and how quickly the daggers come back.
On that note, Dagger Froggy has a great mechanic that helps it stand out from other Vampire Saviour-style titles. Froggy only recollects his dagger after throwing it if he is close enough to where it lands or hits an enemy. It creates a great gameplay loop of constantly losing your dagger and having to run around the screen to collect it. As the game progresses, there are opportunities to have more than one dagger, which gives players more flexibility. On one run, we had four daggers in our arsenal.
We played Dagger Froggy for just over an hour and found it to be an enjoyable experience that requires practice to perfect. The first few runs, we didn’t make it to the end of the timer, but once some tactics started to be set and a greater understanding of the hit boxes and controls, we started to succeed in most runs we had. After upgrading the frog a few times using coins saved up from runs, the game really opens up with lots of potential for trying new approaches to the play as well as clearing more waves to unlock new characters and harder enemies. Anyone looking for a quick pick-up and play retro title will do well to take a look at Dagger Froggy. At this price point, it feels like great value for money if the gameplay loop keeps you coming back.
